National Farmers Union Supports Right-To-Repair

Aaron Shier, director of government affairs with the National Farmers Union says that the organization is pushing for what they call a national solution- when it comes to the right to repair issue.

“We have really taken in all of the above approach to saying, let's get this done. You know, there are a class action lawsuit out there against fear on this issue that is national in scope. We have been part of a petition to the Federal Trade Commission to address aspects of this issue. And, of course, we've supported federal legislation in the previous Congress, when it was introduced to address this issue nationwide. But short of getting everyone on board at the federal level right away. And given that there are many different aspects, sort of technical, legal, and other aspects to this issue. No, we gotta keep moving the conversation forward where we can.”

Even if that means supporting state-by-state law, as is the case of Colorado, where a right-to-repair bill is about to be signed into law, and according to a blog post on the NFU website, a few decades ago, a farmer had skills and tools they needed to quickly make a tractor repair if they broke down. Now with the new technology, it is harder to repair a broken-down tractor and to do so in a timely manner. In addition, NFU has concerns regarding farmer privacy with the data that is collected and transmitted from onboard computers and sensors.